Door and door operating device



Sept. 1, 1931. M. w. HAWKS DOOR AND DOOR OPERATING DEVICE Filed Dec. 22, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 p 1, 1931. M. w. HA KS 1,520,941;

DOOR AND DOOR OPERATING: DEVICE H Filed Dec.- 22'. 927 4 ZSheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 1, 1931 UNITED STATES MILES W. HAWKS, OF HAYESVILLE, OHIO DOOR AND DOOR OPERATING DEVICE Application filed December 22, 1927. Serial No. 241,957.

Conditions in buildings suchas garages, barns, factories, and the like, are.such that the space available for the opening of doors is very often limited. In Patent No. 1,599,-

5 328, issued to me September 7, 1926,'I have disclosed the type of door that operates on inclined tracks under' gravity action for the opening andclosing thereof. However, the doors in the patent referred to are located 10 exteriorly of the building which is a feature that, while highly desirable at times, is not so favorable when there is only a limited amountof space. V

The primary object of this invention is to 15 provide a door mounted on tracks in the interior of a building, together with operating devices for inclining the tracks whereby the doors move under gravity action interiorly of the building for which the door is a closure.

20 Inasmuch as buildings of the character referred to have doors extending substantially across one end thereof it is essential that doors arranged therein be placed along the sides when they are inan open position. If the 3 building is a garage it will be substantially filled when occupied by a machine and it is therefore impossible to avail of any swinging door arrangement on the inside of the garage.

I propose to employ that type of door which I39 runs on a track to allow for the above noted condition. fThe track is curved or bent so that it extends along the sides of the building, as well as the front thereof, whereby the doors are rnoved from a position closing one end of the buildingaround the sides to a position leaving the front of the building open.

As previously mentioned, I desire to avail of gravity action for the actuating impulse which moves the door from one position to another. In carrying out this idea I provide curved tracks which are pivoted at a point in the curvature. Doors are suspended from the tracks which are adapted to be inclined so that, upon the proper inclination being imparted to the't'racks, gravity action will cause the doors to run therealong in a manner to be hereinafter more fully set out.

more particular feature of the invention isthe provision of a means for imparting an initial movement to the doors while the tracks are being inclined to open them. Such a condition affords a construction in which only a slight inclination of the tracks is necessary to cause the doors to move therealong in their opening movement. This construction is highly desirable because the proper operation of the device will not permit of too great an angle of inclination of the tracks, as will be obvious.

A further object of the invention is to provide separate operating members for causing opening and closing movements of the door. This end is obtained by availing of one line in connection with certain pulley arrange ments which causes the tracks to be inclined in one direction, while another line may be pulled on to cause an opposite inclination of the tracks. I prefer to position'these operating lines at points where they may be readily grasped by a person desirous of opening or closing the doors of the building. Under or dinary conditions this would entail locating the operating lines on the v outside of the building in the front thereof. Still another more detailed object of the invention is V to provide doors of the type hereinbefore set out that are readily adaptable to go around bends or turn corners for the purpose described. Inasmuch as these doors are suspended by hangers or trolleys 3 that run along a track, it is necessary to provide swivel joints in thesehangers, as well as lnake'the doors in sections which are hinged together. I

Further more detailed objects arise in connection with the mounting of the tracks. These and other advantages will in part become apparent and in part be stated as the description of'the invention proceeds For a complete understanding thereof reference may be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which: I Figure 1 is a perspective of a garage in cluding my improved door and operating devices.

This view clearly brings out the location of 9 the operating lines.

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the garage, looking from the rear, showing the doors in closed position.

I Figure 3 is a fragmentary View of the front portion'of the garage on a horizontal section,

bringing out the relationship of the operating lines to the curved tracks.

Figure at is an enlarged fragmentary showing of the operating connections for inclining the tracks.

Figure is a fragmentary view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2, showing a portion of the door in its opened position.

While a single embodiment of the invention is hereinset forth it is to be understood that I am not to be limited to the exact constructions illustrated and described, because various modifications of these details may be provided in putting the invention into practice within the purview of the appended claims.

A garage is shown in Figure 1 and indicated generally by the reference character A. One end of the. garage has an opening B whichconstitutes a doorway by which ingress to and egress from the garage is afforded. The garage may have any conventional type of roof O, to suit the wishes of the owner. Mounted on the front end of the garage above the doorway B is a U-shaped bracket 1 which is aiiixed to the garage by passing screws, or like fastening, means, through openings in flanges 2. The outer end of the bracket 1 is supported in a more or less rigid manner by a bracingeleni'ent 3. The bracket '1 carries at its outer end two pulleys or sheaves, indicated at 4 and 5, over which run operating lines in a manner to be hereinafter more specifically described. The front of the garage is also provided with openings 6 and 7, through which the operating lines pass.

Referring more particularly to Figure 3, attention is called to diagonal supporting members 8, which extend from the front of the garage to each of the sides. Pivotmembers are carried by the brackets 8, in any convenient manner, and on these pivot members are mounted curved tracks 9, of proper shape to conform with the front and sides of the garage. The ends: of the tracks9, adjacent to the side walls of the building, move vertically in slots 10 in brackets 11 aflix'ed to the side walls when the tracks are rocked to their pivotal supporting points.

Substantially above the middle point of the opening B are two brackets 12, having base portions 13 and flanges 141. The base port-ions 13 are availed of for fastening the brackets to the front of the garage, while slots in the flanges 14 extend beyond the base portions 13 and'said flanges are bent over to provide the inclined flange structures shown at 15, which serve to perform a peculiar function, as will be later described. An operating line 16, having -a suitable knob or grasping member 17 at one end, passes over the sheave 5, through the opening 6, and around a sheave 18 mounted onthe inner side of the front wall of the garage, adjacent to the opening, and

' carries at its end a bifurcated member 19 Whose free ends are fastened to each of the ends of the tracks 9, respectively. It will be apparent that the knob 17 may be grasped to pull the line 16,'Wh10h will cause a downward movement of the ends of the tracks 9 attached thereto.

In a somewhat similar manner to the mounting of the operating line 16 an operating line 20, having the knob 21, is passed over the sheave 4 and through the opening 7 around another sheave 22. member 23 is fastened to the operating line 20 at its free end and has its ends made fast to the tracks 9 at. substantially the same points as are the ends of the bifurcated member 19. Obviously a downward pull on the knob 21 will cause the ends of. the tracks to move upwardly in the slots of the flanges 12. The length of these slots limit the rocking movement of the tracks, as is apparent.

Doors D constitute a closure for the opening B. These doors are made in sections 2 1, which are hinged together, as shown at 25. One of the doors D operates on one of the tracks 9, while theother operates on the remaining track. These doors are suspended from rollers 26 by hangers 27, which include a swivel joint at 28. It is notable that the meeting sectionsD have their ends bevelled, as indicated at 29, the angle of bevel being complemental to the angle of inclination of the flangesl2 at 15.

In opening the doors the knob 21 is pulled on which causes an upward movement to the inner ends of the tracks 9. This, of course, also involves an upward movement of the doors and, due to the relation of the inclined portions 15 with the bevel portions 29, the upward movement of the doors imparts an initial horizontal motion thereto which overcomes their moment of inertia. Inasmuch as the tracks are inclined away from the center portion of the opening, the doors will run therealong around to the sides leaving the opening B clear. 1 A v To close the doors the line 16 is pulled through the medium of the knob 17 which causes an opposite inclination of the tracks, whereby the doors run therealong under gravity action from the sides around to their position in the front thereby closing the opening. If it is deemed advisable, locking mechanism may be availed of to fasten the'doors D together. vThis is indicated at 30. 7

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. Door operating mechanism of the class described, comprising, in combination, a building structure, supports on the building structure, tracks pivoted intermediate their ends on the supports, guides for the free ends of the tracks, doors operable along the tracks under gravity action, and means for inclining the tracks, the doors coacting with the A bifurcated said guides upon inclination of the tracks in both directions, the guiding means having attached thereto instrumentalities to impart initial movement to the doors adjacent their contacting edges.

2. Door operating mechanism of the class described, comprising, in combination, a building structure, tracks mounted on the interior of the building structure, doors operable along the tracks under gravity action, means to incline the tracks operable from the exterior of the building, and guiding means having attached thereto instrumentalities to impart initial movement to the doors adja cent their contacting edges.

3. In combination, a door and a door opening mechanism, said door comprising sections pivotally secured to each other, a curved track pivoted intermediate of its ends and means for shiftably supporting said door on said 

